PETITIONER POLICE OFFICER’S SITTING IN A DESK CHAIR (WHICH WAS SUBSEQUENTLY FOUND TO BE BROKEN), LEANING BACK, FALLING BACKWARD AND INJURING HIS HEAD CONSTITUTED AN “ACCIDENT” WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY LAW (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing the Comptroller, over a dissent, annulled the determination that petitioner police officer was not injured in an “accident” within the meaning of the Retirement and Social Security Law. Petitioner alleged he sat in a desk chair, leaned back and fell over striking his head. There was evidence the chair was broken:

Petitioner’s burden was to demonstrate that his disability arose out of an accident which, for purposes of the Retirement and Social Security Law, is defined as “a sudden, fortuitous mischance, unexpected, out of the ordinary, and injurious in impact” … . * * *

In our view, the incident as described constitutes an accident. Contrary to the findings of the Hearing Officer, whether the chair was broken prior to or during the fall is of no moment, as either way petitioner was unaware of any defect. In either situation, the collapse of a chair back would be a sudden, unexpected outcome for anyone who simply sits and leans back. Matter of Crone v DiNapoli, 2022 NY Slip Op 00481, Third Dept 1-27-22